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[INAUDIBLE] started.

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Hello everyone, thank you
for attending our panel

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presentation today.

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My name is Stephanie Calas.

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I'm an English major
in Journalism Media

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and Public Discourse minor.

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And my [? Leap ?]
presentation for you

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today is titled Galloping Toward
My Futur Bridging the Divide

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Between Communications
in the Equine Industry.

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So where did I work this summer?

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I was lucky enough
to get to spend

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from about mid-May to
mid-August at our very

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own Equestrian
Center, which is just

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a quick walk across campus.

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And what was my
summer experience?

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I was the marketing
communications intern

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at the Equestrian Center.

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And before I go more into
what I did this summer,

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I wanted to take a little
time to introduce you

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to my supervisors,
because I worked

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so closely with these
two incredible women

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through the whole process.

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So Paula Pierce is the Director
of the Equestrian Center.

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And thank you, Paula,
for joining us.

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Thrilled to have you.

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Paula and I worked from the
very start of my internship

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last October, before we even
started, really building this

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from the ground up,
so brainstorming

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how we could make this
possible, how we could get me

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into my internship and help
me make a career based off

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of it, what my tasks
will include, et cetera.

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My typical day at
the Equestrian Center

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would look something like this.

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I show up bright and early
around 7:00, 7:30 AM,

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ride the adorable horse featured
in many of my photographs,

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and then spend the
rest of the morning

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with Paula doing working
student positions, so grooming,

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tacking up her horses,
exercising her horses,

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anything she needed.

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I would spend the majority
of my day, of my afternoon,

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with Sharyn Antico, who is our
Marketing and Events Director

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at the Equestrian Center.

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And Sharyn really assisted
me and taught me so much

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about the marketing
communications

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world when I worked with her.

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She worked with me through
just about every project

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that I worked on.

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So in thinking back and
reflecting on my internship

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and what I wanted to
bring to you today,

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I decided that my
summer was really

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divided into two major elements
and two major areas of focus.

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And one of these was marketing.

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So some examples of
what I did in marketing,

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I worked with the Massachusetts
Horse, the local equine

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publication, to create
advertisements, brief pieces,

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et cetera.

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One of these was on our
interscholastic equestrian

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team.

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I worked with the
coach of that team

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to put together an advertisement
that told the community what

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the team's about, what
they're looking for,

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and helped recruit
members to the team.

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And then another
example of what I

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did, I collaborated with
Paula and our stable manager,

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Jennifer Wilda, in
collaborating, pulling together

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pictures, taking pictures, video
clips, prizes, information,

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et cetera, about some of
our wonderful school horses

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that we were trying to
find great homes for.

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I compiled all this information,
and then I published it

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to our Facebook page.

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And I was thrilled to see
that this post reached

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over 2,600 people.

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And we found some great
homes for our school horses.

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And we're still
searching for homes.

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So that was an extremely
rewarding element

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of my internship.

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In thinking back on this
marketing part, I really,

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initially, was surprised how
much time I spent in marketing.

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And I think it was
a challenge for me,

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because this isn't
necessarily what I thought I'd

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be spending most of my time on.

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However, I learned that
this unexpected surprise

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and unexpected element
of my internship

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really gave me a chance for
personal growth, because I

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learned how to dive
headfirst into what

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it is that challenges me.

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And in doing so, I
gained a broader sense

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of knowledge and experience in
the industry I want to pursue.

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The other major
element of my focus

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this summer was in
media, communications,

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and event planning.

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As I mentioned previously, I
did update our Facebook page

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with Sharyn.

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I also managed and posted it on
the equestrian team Instagram

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page with a post
such as this one.

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I absolutely loved this.

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I've had previous experiences
working with Facebook pages,

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social media, et cetera.

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And it comes very
naturally to me.

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And then another major
part of my summer, really

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my most time-consuming project,
was planning and running

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our summer dressage show, which
I'll tell you a little bit more

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about.

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So the Mount Holyoke
College Equestrian Center

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hosted our summer dressage
show on June 29th and 30th

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of this past summer.

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And my role in this
in making this work

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was, before the competition,
I worked with [? Shannon ?]

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to put together and produce
a comprehensive prize

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list to send out to
all of our competitors

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to recruit more competitors
to come to our competition.

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And I also worked with
Sharyn to put together

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our show program that
was then distributed

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to all of our competitors on
the day of the competition.

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My major role during the
two days of competition

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was as the volunteer
coordinator.

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And this was a task that I was
initially very overwhelmed by,

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and I didn't know if I could do.

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Before the competition, I
reached out to local community

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members to recruit a group of
really excited, enthusiastic

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volunteers who would
really help our show run.

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On the days of competition,
I showed up bright and early,

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really before most people came,
and set up a volunteer table.

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And it was my job to make sure
our volunteers were there,

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that they knew what
they had to do,

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that they had their neon
green volunteer T-shirts,

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and that they were on
their way to having

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a really successful day.

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And like I said,
this first, to me,

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seemed like something
I couldn't handle

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and something that would be too
big for an intern like myself.

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But in working
with my supervisors

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and working with all of
the support system I had,

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it really went off
without a hitch.

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And it was the ultimate test
of communications, I would say.

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And I learned that I
absolutely love this.

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And while maybe
at a competition,

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I would usually
be riding a horse,

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I learned how to work
from the ground up.

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So what?

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In my summer experience,
the marketing

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focus for me showed
to me the skills

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I needed to take from
diving into something that

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challenges you and pushes you.

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And while initially, it
may be a little frustrating

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and you might wonder, why am I
spending so much time on this?

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The ability to just dive in
and overcome these challenges

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will lead to so much
personal growth.

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For me, I learned that
marketing maybe isn't for me.

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But if I hadn't
gone right into it

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and put myself
wholeheartedly into it,

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I wouldn't have learned
that maybe that's not

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what I wanted to do.

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Also, I believe that it's
so important, if you have

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two major passions, as mine are
horses and communications, not

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to limit yourself
when you're searching

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for an internship, when
you're trying to make it work,

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because it is totally possible
and the rewards are numerous.

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Being able to combine my two
passion at the Equestrian

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Center taught me so
much about myself.

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It taught me about
what I wanted to do,

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and it helped me create a
career path moving forward.

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And that is so, so-- it's
an invaluable experience.

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So don't limit yourself.

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All my photographs are
included with permission

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from the following individuals.

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Thank you very much.

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